The Eigenmanns did not explain this allusion but they were probably referring the diagonal dark band running through the eye.

The background color is tan or pink on the upper body broken by with darker, rather ill-defined markings, fading to white on the underside.

The first dorsal fin is pale marked with three series of dark spots, at the base, in the middle and near the margin.

[5] Zaniolepis frenata feeds on amphipods, copepods, krill, isopods, polychaetes, shrimps, and fish eggs.

[6][7] Zaniolepis frenata, which has been recorded as a source of food for the Native American inhabitants of San Nicolas Island off the coast of Southern California during the Middle Holocene.